Bought Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Natalia
I’m all cried out from my time in the shower. Any of the pleasure that I felt finally sleeping with Dane and giving myself over to him is gone. I’m exhausted, feeling more like the shell of a person than an actual human being, and I have to force myself to leave the calm of the bedroom to go find Dane.
I’m starving and I want something to eat, but I’d be lying to myself if I tried to convince myself that that was the only reason I’m looking for him. Sure, part of me needs something to take the edge off of my hunger, but there’s another part of me that wants to see him. I’ve never done anything like that with another person and I feel the need to have him close to me, to make sure that he still wants me.
It’s one thing for him to want to fuck me, but it’s something else entirely for him to still want me after he does. I can’t believe the self-doubt coursing through my body as I peek into the kitchen, but I swear that I feel my shoulders relax when I see him sitting there at the island.
He puts his phone on the island, screen down, when he hears me come in, and turns around to look at me. I know that it’s silly to be so struck by how he looks, but he really is a gorgeous man. For what seems like the first time, his strong jaw is relaxed and he looks happy, not worried and stressed out about something.
“Hi,” I say, slipping onto the stool next to him. We’re close enough that he could easily pull me over for a kiss and I tilt my face up to him a little, hoping that he will.
To my surprise, his strong arm bands around me and he pulls me to him, pressing his lips against mine. I suck in a breath at the shock that runs through my body and I reach out, resting my hands on his chest. It’s a deep kiss, the desire behind it so evident that I feel my underwear getting wet.
When he pulls back, I’m almost panting and my lips feel sore and bruised. Reaching up, I lightly touch the lower one, my eyes locked on his face.
“I just ordered pizza,” he tells me. gesturing to his phone. “And I just got off a call with some extended family.”
“Everything alright?” I know that it’s probably silly to care one bit about what’s going on in this man’s life, but I have to remind myself that it’s my life, too. What matters to him should matter to me, if only because I don’t want to get caught up in some terrible shit that I can’t get back out of.
Dane scares me, but part of me is excited to be allowed into his world. If that’s not fucked up, then I don’t know what is, but I can’t help the way he makes me feel.
“Steve and Mark are mixed up with a motorcycle gang that tried to take over where our family lives,” he tells me, grabbing his phone when it makes a soft ding. He gives a brisk nod and then leaves the room, walking down the hall to the front door. When he comes back, he’s carrying three pizzas.
“Feeding an army?” I ask, my stomach rumbling.
He laughs and puts them down on the counter. “Preparing for round two.” When he looks at me, I swear that I feel the heat from his gaze rip through my body. I don’t know what’s going to happen between the two of us, but I do know that I’m never going to forget what it felt like to have his cock in me.
“Anyway, this motorcycle club is just limping along, but they’re still powerful enough to get people like the Jacobson brothers in their pockets, so we need to be careful. Three guys are coming down to help us finish the job.”
“Three of them?” I have a slice of vegetarian pizza in my hand and even though my mouth waters while I wait to take a bite, I’m interested in what he’s saying. “Are they that powerful?”
He shakes his head. “I think that our family is that pissed. But yeah, they’re like a snake where you cut off one head and two more form. We need to make sure that they’re completely eradicated this time.”
“Do you have to help with that?” I take a bite, the hot cheese burning the roof of my mouth. At the same time, though, it’s so delicious that I want to cram the entire slice in my face.
“You worried about me?” He smirks, then continues before I have a chance to respond. “We need to because we’re all family. Also, they’re moving in on our turf, and we want to make sure that it’s safe here. If we don’t and they come back then we’ll always be wondering why we didn’t try harder.”
I nod. I get it. “What do you need me to do?” The question is out of my mouth before I even realize that I’m going to ask it and my eyes widen as I look at Dane. He looks surprised too, his eyebrow cocked as he considers me and my question.
“You’re going to be here today enjoying yourself. We’ll take care of everything and I want to make sure that you’re safe.” His phone dings again and he puts down the slice of pizza he’s holding to pick it up. I watch him, taking small bites, and notice how dark his face suddenly gets.
“What is it?” I’m still hungry but I’m much more interested right now in knowing what it is that has him so upset. Picking a pepper off my pizza, I pop it in my mouth while I wait for him to answer.
“Your dad is apparently involved with the Wicked Bastards.” Dane glances up at me before looking back at his phone. “Salvatore sent me this list of people they think the Bastards might be working with, and your dad is on it.”
My stomach twists and I feel the nape of my neck prickle. Putting my pizza down, I stare at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, his thumbs fly across the screen as he taps out a message. I know that I should wait for him to talk to me, but I can’t handle it. I have to know what’s going on and it’s utter bullshit that he thinks he can keep things from me when it’s my life.
Reaching across the island, I lunge for the phone, but he pulls it away from me. “Don’t fucking touch it,” he tells me, and my hand stills in the air. “You have to trust me and understand that I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe.”
Even though I hear what he’s saying, I’m not sure that I can believe him. It’s one thing for me to just agree and shut up, but that means that I actually trust him. And right now, he’s telling me that my dad is against me. Well, not against me, exactly, but willing to get mixed up with some real assholes.
“You can’t hide this shit from me,” I tell him, standing up. “I’m going to be your wife.”
This makes him slip his phone into his pocket and he glares at me. “You will be, yes, but right now you’re not. Even then, I get to choose what you know and what you don’t, do you understand?”
“But it’s my dad!” Anger washes over me and I slam my hands down on the island. “You can’t hide stuff from me when it has to do with my family!”
“I’m your family now!” He roars the words at me and I actually take a step back from the island, wanting to put some space between the two of us. “I’m the one you trust, I’m the one who’s doing everything to take care of you! Fuck, Natalia, you’re so caught up in wanting to win your dad’s approval that you’re missing the fact that he is not the good guy!”
“Oh, and you are?” My heart slams in my chest. Never in my life did I think that I’d have the balls to speak to Dane like this. Then again, maybe it isn’t bravery. Maybe it’s stupidity and I’m about to get myself in a hell of a lot of trouble. There’s a voice in the back of my mind telling me to be careful, but I ignore it and plow forward.
“You don’t really seem like the pinnacle of clean living and being a good person, Dane,” I hiss. “You and the rest of the Accardis are all assholes, you know that?”
“Then you’ll fit right in when you take my last name.” He throws the words at me and I shake my head.
“Never. I’m not going to marry you.” Spinning, I stalk from the kitchen, but he moves faster and comes up behind me, turning me around and pinning me against the wall with his hips.
It feels like my lungs deflate and I have to fight to take a breath. Everything about Dane is sexy, from the way he stares at me like he wants to eat me, to the way his cock presses against me.
I realize with a shock that I want him. Right now. In the hall. I want everything that Dane Accardi has to offer, and I’m actually disappointed when he pulls away from you. “I have shit to do, but so do you,” he tells me, looking me up and down. “I planned something for you.”
“For me?” I feel like my voice is a whisper, but maybe that’s just because it’s hard for me to hear it over the sound of my heart slamming in my chest. Dane nods once, then there’s a soft tone from his pocket.
“They’re here. I want you to have fun.” He stares at me like he’s debating saying something, else, but doesn’t. Instead, he leads the way to the front door.
It may be stupid, but I follow him. I want to know what’s out there for me, what he has planned. There’s no way that it’s something good, right? No way that he would come up with a good surprise for me just because he wanted to.
Still, I follow him, passing right behind him as he opens the door and then steps to the side. I’m immediately pressed up against the wall as a huge rack of wedding dresses is pushed into the condo.
